Monday, 15 September 2008
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In Tbilisi
As I write this blog I’m sitting in our guest house in Tbilisi and in just 12 hours we’ll begin our first training session. I want to send a special thanks to our Bethel Family in Virginia for making this trip possible. Your partnership has been a big encouragement to me as I have prepared to head to off to The Republic of Georgia. I also want to thank the Christian Assembly prayer community for committing to lift us up as we go. I just wanted to take a minute to update those who have been praying for us concerning the latest developments in Georgia and some of our plans while we are there.
According to the United Nations there were an estimated 185,000 internally displaced people within Georgia at the height of the conflict with Russia. Today they estimate that are roughly 90,000 who have not returned home and 30,000 who will remain displaced long term. The good news is that Russian forces continue to withdraw from Georgia proper and more and more aid is able to reach those in need. Medical supplies are being dispersed, families are being united, and homes are beginning to be rebuilt. As is often the case in areas that go through trauma, the emotional affects of the conflict with Russia will remain long after the infrastructure has been restored. Here is a brief report from an American missionary living in Tbilisi regarding our training and the emotional state of his community. He writes, “Things are looking good for participants; this is certainly a needed course, both for locals and foreigners here. Lots of fear and despair, bitterness, hatred of the Ru govt, resignation that Georgia is going through this AGAIN (remember, the standard statistic is that Tbilisi has been destroyed 29 times in its 1500-odd years), wondering what God is doing with this country, pride at being the crushed little guy who took on a huge enemy, mourning still..” He also writes that according to Georgian customs of mourning, each death will have a funeral, a memorial feast 40 days after the death, and then a year memorial feast as well. There is a lot of grieving in store for the people of Georgia to come. Our hope is that we will be able to equip pastors and other leaders to help their communities through this grieving period. We also hope to give them some tools to help those who are emotionally stuck in the trauma they suffered.
Please continue to pray for our team of three. Dr. Witty is the expert in trauma therapy. He really knows his stuff but pray that God would clearly direct him to teach to the specific needs in this situation. Pray for David our partner who was recently deported from Russia. David will be staying in Tbilisi after Dr. Witty and I leave to continue to support the pastors and missionaries in the area. Since I have no formal training in trauma therapy my role is to offer guidance, from the perspective of a lay-person concerning how to implement practically what Dr. Witty has taught. In addition to the training I feel like God would like us to share a message of peace. Not in the sense of the absence of war, but peace the kind of peace that comes from God that transcends understanding. I don’t know exactly how we will express that so pray that we will speak what God wants us to speak.
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